Rozey's "Sugar Cherry" Is Musical Alter-Ego Done Right
The polarizing pre-conceived notions surrounding having an alter-ego as a musician are terrifying to surmount, yet Detroit’s own Rozey conquers these doubts with ease. The successive releases of the 10 track project Isn’t It Wonderful and the new EP It Was Almost You are groundbreaking stabs at the modern indie scene (that seems to have become stagnant recently with Phoebe Bridgers and Steve Lacy clones) that were created under his new identity--Sugar Cherry. This isn’t to say his preliminary work such as the singles “If I Come Home” or “Fred’s Song” are not beautiful in their own right, though none are comparatively sound against these new somber delicacies.
Alter-egos have been done right in music before, most famously executed by David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, or MF DOOM’s cast of supervillains, Viktor Vaughn and King Geedorah. There have also been some uninspired endeavors, namely J. Cole’s pitched down character KiLL Edward. The difference with Rozey, is these artists wanted you to know that they’re the men behind the mask. Sugar Cherry was originally intended to be a covert effort from Rozey, but a change of heart left him releasing teasers and links on his main socials.
On my first listen of Isn’t It Wonderful, the effortless lo-fi style was reminiscent of when Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago first caught my ear. Faint, distorted guitars are the main instrument of choice and act as a perfect conductor for the melancholy vocal delivery and lyrical content. “How many times I’ve tried / To get clean from you / And all the things I’ve lost / Because I think about you”, he chants on “Veins”, a legitimately chilling vocal performance. From start to finish, I felt encapsulated within the world Rozey had built--which impressively doesn’t overstay its welcome. Yet due to the short length of the project (which has a total runtime of 21 minutes) I was left craving more.
It Was Almost You is an excellent extension of the forward-thinking approach from the initial Sugar Cherry album, which was released just two months prior. Only having 6 tracks--the EP tries its best to trek through undiscovered territory in the Sugar Cherry realm, while also remaining true to what made it so powerful originally. “I’ve Known For A While” and “Even If The Sky Turned Black” could’ve easily fit on Isn’t It Wonderful without a head-turn, while other songs like “Oh God” and the outro “Somehow A Part Of Me Still Thinks…” have a slightly more distinct sonic landscape that could easily be the direction for a possible follow-up project. The EP rounded up the magic that made Isn’t It Wonderful so compelling and tried some different spells--greatly advancing Rozey’s triumph as a major force in modern indie music.
Written By Hunter Petch
